Nicola knew she was keen on health sciences and she knew that Otago was particularly strong in that area, so she came to Otago and did the Health Science First Year course.
“ I really enjoyed learning the details and specifics of the processes that go on inside living things, and the way people have used their research to improve people's lives.“
After her first year Nicola concentrated on Biochemistry and Physiology, graduating with a BSc(Honours) in Biochemistry at the end of 2008. By March 2009 she was employed by Global Science, the New Zealand subsidiary of VWR. Global Science supplies scientific products throughout New Zealand, and Nicola is responsible for sales in the southern half of the South Island.
“Once a month or maybe every three weeks I head from Christchurch south, to Dunedin mostly, sometimes through to Invercargill. I travel to the West Coast as well, providing science consumables, chemical reagents as well as hardware, medium sized scientific equipment to regional councils, hospitals, breweries and other industrial users … I really enjoy the variety, and meeting people all over the place. It's really good being able to figure out what people need for a particular task and being able to supply that need.”
Nicola has her sights set on the wider world, so she's heading to London shortly, but she's enjoyed her work so much she expects to continue in the same kind of field: more people, and even more variety!